Salix babylonica weeping willow

Weeping willow, Jordan Quad (now removed). Sairus Patel, 4 Jan 2019

Weeping willow leaves, bark; Jordan Quad. Sairus Patel, 4 Jan 2019

It was thought that the traditional weeping willow reached Europe, where it was named by Linnaeus, from Mesopotamia, maybe because Alexander Pope, on opening a consignment of fruit from Smyrna tied with a red willow withe, planted the cutting and said, “Perhaps this will produce a tree that we do not have in England.” But it is now believed to have originated in ancient times in China. The word willow is used in the King James Bible of 1611, e.g. in Job 40:22 and Psalm 137, but the English name willow did not then necessarily refer to the genus Salix established by Linnaeus (1707–1778); it included other brookside trees such as the poplar.

Our weeping willows are Salix babylonica or – more likely – its hybrids. Campus’s sole remaining specimen stands next to the shed behind Hammarskjöld House (592 Alvarado Row).

Some on Galvez Mall east of the southeast corner of Green Library (map pin), near the trio of Queensland kauri, were removed around 2015. One south of Redwood Hall in Jordan Quad (map pin) was removed soon after. Weeping willow used to grow on the Golf Course.

Three, including a sapling, droop over the courtyard pond at 1001 Page Mill Road in the Stanford Research Park (map pin).

Weeping willow, Schwab Center. John Rawlings, ca. 2005

Weeping willow near Green Library (now removed). John Rawlings, ca 2004